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E-Retail just got a Fillip !

Post author By nishankjoshi
Post date October 7, 2014
6 Comments on E-Retail just got a Fillip !

Figures dont lie. Never do. 10 has always been an iconic number. Bo Derek redefined figures and curves in the movie 10, Nadia Comăneci delivered the perfect 10 performance in an Olympics many moons ago and a little man called Tendulkar gave the sport jersey a life
of its own after sporting a 10. 6/10/2014 was equally historic as 10 hours in India redefined ecommerce as we know it. Flipkart took up hoardings and front pages in prime newspapers making it a first for any black friday kind of scale in India. Snapdeal and Amazon joined in to make it real huge. And then the mayhem started.

Tags amazon, commerce, ecommerce, eretial, etail, flipkart, online shopping, organised retail, shopping, snapdeal

India life lifestyle Nature Photography Photography Powai trees Uncategorized

Co-existence

Even we are educated and we also look up Google. So, please don’t teach us… thundered Ignoramus 1. We want him captured and sent back to where he belongs , shrieked Ignoramus 2. As the room was filled by the shrieks and sounds of these 2 gifts to mankind, my mind drifted to a very powerful monologue by Amitabh Bachchan in Agneepath, ( the original one). Amitabh in his rich baritone voice explains to the erstwhile Commisioner of Police the food chain in the jungle. He ends the powerful monologue with the line sher bhediye ko chabaa jaata hai., stating the obvious that in the jungle the Lion is King. But here in the real world, the poor sher and cheetah are no match for the all powerful aadmi in the cities. Its a fact!

Tags Forest, Hiranandani gardens, Leopard, mumbai, Mumbaikars, powai, Sanjay Gandhi National park, SGNP

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In search of the perfect vacation?

Post author By nishankjoshi
Post date June 12, 2014
3 Comments on In search of the perfect vacation?

Many in Mumbai find it hard to have 1 decent vacation a year. My kind boss allowed me not 1 but 2 five day breaks within a month ! The first was an all boys out Safari to Pench. 5 AM safaris, dusty roads, vodka and bollywood evenings and some great bonding in the jungle meant that the boys really did have all the fun. The second was a nice little family vacation in Poovar & Kumarakom in Kerala. The highlight – our first vacation with our sometimes devil , almost always angel little daughter – Mysha. This one was all about running behind Mysha for her feed, her taking to the pool like a fish to water, long boat rides, running behind Mysha for her feed ,multiple car journeys, screaming on top of our voices like children, running behind Mysha for her feed ( yea we did that a lot …).

I had great company in both, fab service levels in the hotels that we stayed in and met hospitable people wherever I went. There were goof ups in both the places too – Missing tiger sighting, small skirmishes with guides, running behind Mysha for her feed – ( Oh, did I cover that already ! ). But, as I look back at these mini vacations , I think I have learnt a very important lesson. The first one is obvious – never let out your preference about 2 diametrically opposite trips in public – hehe.

The second one is vacations are all about moments. Little ones. Big ones. The first Tiger sighting on a trip, the bonding over a masala David Dhawan film, your baby’s first outing in a swimming pool, her not letting her parents go out of sight even for a moment in 5 days, her crying papa- papa as you approach the window of your cottage, the family sitting quietly in a boat not talking a word but being the perfect family in that moment. Someone once told me I visualise in pictures and images… But when I reminisce about these 10 days, its not a set of pictures but a beautiful movie montage playing out against some terrific slow music. It’s this montage which keeps playing in my mind that makes it oh so perfect.

As we all go back to our daily chores for the next 6 months or so before the next 10 day break, I thank my wife Sunita, our little angel Mysha, My best pal Mayur, Daksh, Suraj and all the people I met for this perfect 10 day vacation – The montage wouldn’t have been possible without you folks 🙂

Tags bonding, camaraderie, daughters, Family, India, Kerala, Kumarakom, Pench, Poovar, safari, Tiger, Vacation, Wildlife

life marketing shopping centers Uncategorized

Read this post and win a Free Sedan !

Post author By nishankjoshi
Post date November 23, 2013

The title of this post could have easily been the end of experience in shopping centres… but then going by what most malls did in India for Diwali, experience is not a marketable idea. Instead, a car, gold or an International vacation were better options or were they?

First the good news: Most “Live Malls” or should I say malls that were ALIVE and KICKIN’ did better business than last year.

Now the truth: Most did not do as well as they expected.

Its an interesting story really. Developers expected to get above average returns. They knew the economy was bad. The decision was so easy- Lets just bribe the consumer this time. A sub par performance meant – It was expected, hence we didn’t spend. An above par performance will mean – see we spent little and still got the returns.

The Only Truth: The only sufferer was the MALL BRAND !

The relationship between retailers and malls is not an easy one. Malls seek big brands in an attempt to get easy footfalls. Retailers bank on mall marketing to get the footfalls they want. 0 or close to nothing spends on marketing and over confidence on their brand pull means consumers have stopped caring as to where they headed.

The plethora of malls coupled with their reluctance to invest in branding means, consumers no longer go to a shopping centre X or a shopping centre Y. They go to the mall to buy from a Shoppers Stop or an Allen Solly. Loyalty is nothing.

Infact with almost every mall giving away gold or a car free, the better option would be to go to the mall with lesser footfalls – the odds of winning get significantly better- 1 in a lac vs 1 in a million.

Whichever way you look at it, these are exciting times to be a consumer. You will either be rewarded with an experience or at least have a 1 in a million chance to own a free car… … and so are the chances of the mall developing itself into a world class brand

Tags diwali, India, Malls, prize, retail, shopping, win

Cricket Dhoni Dravid Ganguly India inspiration inspirational life lifestyle MSD mummy Sachin Tendulkar Sport Uncategorized usha joshi

Inspired

Post author By nishankjoshi
Post date July 24, 2013

July 12, 2013. 2:40 AM IST:

MSD does the impossible once again as he takes 16 runs off a single over in a low scoring game to beat SL in the final of the tri series championship in WI.

One finds inspiration in many places. One finds inspiration at any age too.

Tags city, Cricket, Dravid, Ganguly, icon, icons, India, inspirational, ipl, lifestyle, mum, Mumbai Indians, mummy, Sachin, Sachin Tendulkar, social, social media, Sport, Tendulkar

birding India inorbit malls Jugaad marketing Photography Road Trip Sachin Tendulkar Safari Sport

The End of Armchair Birding

Post author By nishankjoshi
Post date July 21, 2013
1 Comment on The End of Armchair Birding

Squirrels playing, a family of parakeets whizz past, the Koels nibble on fruits, magpie robins keep themselves busy all day… just how far does the average suburban Mumbaikar need to travel to see this. A few kms at least I would think. I get to see this from my house. No kidding straight out of the window! Welcome to Hiranandani, Powai folks. Sadly, this is also thethe last year when i can continue to pursue the incredible past time of what I term as arm chair birding.

Tags alfa, asian koel, birding, development, Hiranandani, Hiranandani gardens, kingfisher, koel, myna, Photogrtaphy, powai, robin, Sony, suburbs, urban

birding India Nature Photography Uncategorized

Tadoba Diary: Jungle Raaj

4 am starts. 5 am line up. 6 am checkin to office. 10 am checkout. 2 pm line up again. 7 hr drives on rocky roads. Imagine a life where every strategy starts with Telia and ends with well Paazahar. What’s that you say ?

It begins with a Promise and a Sunrise

For most safari and wildlife tourists or enthusiasts the few days they spend in the jungle are a bliss. 4 am mornings are supposed to refresh you. The sight of dawn in the jungle just revs up your brain with a plethora of ideas. Sightings of the Tiger and Birds of prey literally send a thousand tingling sensations to your brain. Like a recent ad goes: ALIVE IS AWESOME. Indeed.

Tags birding, DSLR, guide, India, jeep, jungle, Maha, Maharashtra, safari, sightings, Sony, Tiger, tourism, Wildlife

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What are they thinking ….

Post author By nishankjoshi
Post date March 10, 2013

So , how do 2 companies that shaped an entire industry manage to go kaput in 2 years. Clearly Nokia and Blackberry rode the wave and fell hard. But just as you thought they had it in them to face the best in the world and resurrect from the brink, they unleash unpardonable ads. Ones that do no justice to their brands, their partner’s brands or just the wonderful products that they have just introduced. Begs the question – What are their marketers thinking ?

Tags android, apple, BB10, blackberry, ios, Ios. apple, microsoft, mobile, mobiles, nokia, nokia Lumia 920, samsung, social, social media, symbian, technology, windows, windows 8, Z10

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Birding in Mumbai. It’s possible.

Post author By nishankjoshi
Post date January 16, 2013
1 Comment on Birding in Mumbai. It’s possible.

Birding. Funny that i didnt know that was even a word till 6 months ago. Bird watching- funnier that the word holds no relevance for the feathered species.

Birders will tell you that Navi Mumbai, Sewri , Uran and the Karnala bird sanctuary are havens for our ilk. Thing is for an aspiring / novice enthusiast there is no informed way to find out. For Navi Mumbai I had to ask my colleague who lives there to nose around, which he bless his soul willingly did.